Pay Dirt
by guitar73girl
Summary: The wagers continue... who will win Round 2?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own them, they're just playing out with me.**

**"Pay Dirt"**

**1PP, Alex's Desk...**

"Pay up, Bobby..." Alex held her hand out, wiggling her fingers expectantly, a smug smile on her lips.

"Nu-huh... what for?" he sulked, securing his hands firmly in his trouser pockets, his full bottom lip just the littlest bit prominent and looking an awful lot like her little nephew's..._ If that bottom lip sticks out anymore, Bobby, you're gonna trip over it... _

"'Cos you bet me I couldn't go as long without skittles as you could without quoting the Smithsonian Magazine... and **you** caved first!" she crowed, poking him lightly to emphasise her victory.

"Did not!" he exhorted, beetling his brow and idly rubbing his chest where her finger had prodded him.

"Did too!!" she retorted, enjoying their undeniably childish exchange.

"What gave me away?" he grumbled, knowing he'd been caught. _Damn my brain... couldn't I have kept it in my head just this once? _He should know better than to think he could win a bet against Alex. She was most tenacious when challenged.

"You couldn't resist quoting the case of the librarian who foiled a book thief, Bobby..." she gloated.

Puzzling how she could possibly know that, he reluctantly took the large bag of Original Fruit Skittles (the original and best in her opinion, as she'd told him many a time...) from his suit coat pocket and handed them over, raising his palms in surrender.

_She'd got him. She'd got him good._

In an instant, Eames had ripped open the bag of fruity morsels and was leaning back in her chair, savouring their tart perfection, all the while grinning her superiority.

She'd let him suffer a bit before letting him in on her newest secret._For little did Bobby know, there was a seventh subscriber these days..._


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: I only played with them and then put them back safely. See, there they are... waving..._

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Lewis's Auto-shop - late one Saturday night...

From a distance, Lewis's voice could be heard cajoling Alex Eames into what was surely going to be an unwise course of action. Anyone with a minimum of years in high school could have told her that.

"Aww, c'mon, Alex. He double-dog dared ya. You gotta do it now!" Lewis pleaded, an anticipatory grin stretched from ear to ear, as he clinked his long-necked bottle with Bobby's.

Bobby himself was trying his upmost to appear angelically innocent with regard to his friend's endeavours to entice Alex into taking the bet. "Lewis... Alex is way too... sensible... to take on a bet she knows she can't win..."

His tone deceptively casual, he deliberately held her fiery gaze and worked on looking his benign best. _God, she's cute when she's pissed. The kind of cute usually attributed to the ferocity of a thoroughly wet, maddened kitten... with pointy ends. C'mon Alex, take the bait._

Bobby was still smarting from Alex winning their last bet. His skittle debt was beginning to rival the UN food reserve in volume. With her hands firmly on her slim hips, she shot him one last, laser-hot look. Satisfied when he winced and swallowed audibly, she turned her attention to Lewis.

"I fully understand the grave undertaking that is the double-dog dare, Lewis, and I have never, I repeat, backed down from one ever. Johnny Eames's daughter knows better. What's the cost if I lose?"

Bobby and Lewis moved towards each other to huddle in that particularly school-boyish way that men do when dealing with childish games... or women. Keeping one eye on Alex, who was tapping her foot, crossing her arms and playing at waiting patiently, they rapidly conferred, debating both prize and forfeit.

Bobby was elected spokesperson. "If you win, Lewis and I will treat you to dinner at the restaurant of your choice. We will chauffeur you, escort you and be at your beck and call all night..." Bobby paused to let the offer sink in and then added, "Lewis has even agreed to wear a suit; s... should the destination call for it."

Lewis nodded enthusiastically, his face endearingly earnest. A date with Detective Alex was worth any cost... even having Bobby along.

Alex considered the tabled offer a prize worth having. Every girl needs a little glitz, glamour and pampering now and then and a night on the town with these two would definitely give her that. If Bobby and Mike could be compared to 'Ocean's Two' then she had no doubt that Bobby and Lewis would be just as powerful a combination.

Cocking her head to one side, she tucked her hair behind her ear and asked, "... and if I lose?"

It was Lewis' turn to present the not so great prize behind door number two. Coughing nervously, he closed his eyes, much to Bobby's amusement, and hurried out the words.

"IfyouloseyougottatreatBobby'n'metoinnerfieldseatsatShea. Platinum game."

Alex blinked hard. Damn, that was indeed a worthy forfeit. Bobby and Lewis were notoriously voluble, excitable and downright rowdy at Mets games. It would be like having two six foot plus toddlers high on E numbers. And her with the car keys. And no beer. _Gee, I can feel the headache already._

Both of her boys were waiting on her answer. Bobby was pretty sure she was going to accept the challenge. She'd never managed to resist a dare before. Lewis resembled a little boy who had to go potty as he all but hopped from foot to foot in anticipation.

Taking a deep breath, she summoned all her fortitude and gave the only answer her father's daughter could. "I'm in..."

* * *

One hour and twenty-seven minutes later, she stepped back from the table, wiping her blackened hands on an oily rag.

"I'm done."

The pristinely re-built, original 1950's, two-barrel Holley carburettor was complete.

Alex's grin said it all. Lewis gaped in awe as Bobby paled, sure he'd finally found something she'd lose at.

"Dinner, Boys? I'm starving..."

* * *

_A/N: I was going to let Bobby win this time... but the plot bunny hi-jacked me. Maybe he'll have better luck next time... What do you think their next bet should be?_


End file.
